Thread: What are your favorite scale materials in the shop?

What are some of your favorite scale materials for use in the workshop?

I'll start:

Horn - I love it, though it can be challenging to work with due to it being a natural material whose imperfections have a way of showing up at the wrong time.

Micarta - What's not to love. A buffer, rather than a Dremel, makes short work of finishing it. One of the bests tips I've been given by a mentor of SRP was to use polishing compound bars before going to Mother's and 3M Marine. A little of the bar compound goes a long way.

Polyester sheeting - I have a love-hate relationship with this stuff. There is a really cool pattern I like. It's easy to work with. It's also a little too soft. It scratches easily, which isn't an issue for personal use if you are careful. It should live in two places: on cloth or in a stand. Never on a counter or un-protected surface.

It will also break if you stress it. I'm not worried about every day use, though have broken two scales in the workshop. DO NOT put CA on both sides of the wedge with this material - it will break.

Wood - Another great material. I'm just getting started with it. While it is a natural product, I have not had trouble with imperfections showing up at just the wrong time like with horn.

G-10 - This one is a heart breaker for me. I love the stuff. It feels like the perfect scale material. Most unfortunately, the dust is highly toxic from a 'causing lung cancer' perspective. You can wear a respirator, though clean up is very difficult.

I've chosen not to work G-10 at this time. I think about doing a run or two per year with it. My work shop is on my porch. All work would be done there. I would vacuum myself and remove clothes before coming inside. I would then do a very deep cleaning on all machinery. Dust collection would be a must. I'm pretty sure that the same applies to carbon fiber.

This is an awful lot of hassle which isn't needed with other materials. The only reason I think about it is because it represents such a large portion of what is offered by the scale material suppliers.